A depleted Ball State University football lineup left the Cardinals with little chance from the get-go against nationally-ranked University of Iowa, and the statistics — let alone the score — showed that by halftime.
After two quarters, the Cardinals were behind, 49-0. Compared to Iowa’s 16 first downs, Ball State had just one. And Ball State’s offense gained 22 total yards to Iowa’s 302, including 169 yards on the ground.
“It’s a good football team, great program, well coached,” Ball State coach Brady Hoke said. “We had a couple opportunities that we didn’t take advantage of.”Ball State played without 13 players, including seven starters, due to violations of Ball State’s textbook policy.
On the opening drive, Iowa’s quarterback Drew Tate completed a pass to Clinton Solomon for a 15-yard pickup. That play started a 56-yard march down the field that resulted in Iowa’s first touchdown. Ball State stuffed the middle of the line of scrimmage to prevent Iowa from scoring on second and goal on that drive, but Schnoor bulldozed his way for the one-yard gain the following play.
Iowa opened plenty of holes in the frontline battle throughout the game, creating enough room to run for 241 yards on the ground.
“I’m a senior; I’m a captain,” defensive end Blair Kramer said. “I take full responsibility for any holes that opened up against Iowa.”
After Ball State went three and out during its first possession, Tate guided the Hawkeyes another 60 yards to score their second touchdown just six minutes into the game.
The Hawkeyes wound up scoring three touchdowns in their first four possessions of the game. The Cardinals’ lone stop came when Kramer sacked Tate to force a fumble for a three-yard loss, and defensive end Martin Dunbar recovered the fumble.
Ball State’s best chance to score in the first quarter came the following drive. The Cardinals started at the Iowa 36-yard line with under four minutes to play in the quarter, but quarterback Joey Lynch was sacked for a four yard loss on the first play. Lynch completed a pass to junior college transfer Brandon Hawkins for six yards, but then lost five of them on the following running play.
“We didn’t see too much that we didn’t think we’d see,” Lynch said. “They don’t do many things defensively, they just did it really well. They definitely did their job tonight.”
With the ball on Iowa’s 39-yard line and already behind 21-0, the Cardinals elected to fool Iowa with a pooch punt. Lynch lined up behind center, snapped the ball, and stepped back appearing as if he was looking for an open receiver. Instead, he punted the ball in hopes of catching the Iowa defense off-guard with no punt returner in the backfield.
The play backfired.
Jovon Johnson scooped the ball up at the 10-yard line and sprinted his way to the endzone for a 90-yard touchdown.
“We didn’t cover it well enough,” Hoke said. “The guy runs it back for a touchdown. That’s a good football team.”
Already ahead by 21, the Hawkeyes didn’t let up in the second quarter. Iowa scored on all three of its possessions, two of which were by Sam Brownlee.
Tate completed a 33-yard touchdown pass to Herb Grigsby on fourth down with 12:33 remaining in the second quarter to give Iowa a 28-point lead, and Brownlee and Tate hooked up for two more touchdowns to increase Iowa’s lead, 49-0.
During that time, Ball State couldn’t get its offense beyond its own 24-yard line.
“[Tate] really is the catalyst of that offensive football team,” Hoke said. “He’s a leader on the field. He’s competitive. He can get out on the perimeter and get around. He’s taught to defend.”
The Hawkeyes loosened their grip around the Cardinals’ throat in the second half, giving their second and third-string players ample playing time. Ball State gained six first downs including five in the third quarter, and gained 122 total yards, but couldn’t get past the Iowa 41-yard line.
Iowa tallied one final time for a 56-0 score early in the fourth quarter and was limited to 139 total yards in the second half.
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